From the onset, Sachar blends elements of absurdism and realism to frame the events of Wayside School. Sachar uses setting, tone, and characterization to establish the plausibility of Wayside School’s world. The book’s Introduction explains that Wayside School was built incorrectly (i.e., “sideways”) as a 30-story building instead of a single-story building with 30 classrooms. This mistake causes abnormal and unusual circumstances to occur. In some cases, these occurrences reflect elements of fantasy or the supernatural. For example, Mrs. Gorf can transform children into apples by moving her ears and sticking out her tongue; Sharie can fall from a window and remain asleep while falling; dead rats can wear raincoats and speak; and math can cure itchy mosquito bites.

The absurdity at Wayside School is unquestioned and assumed to be “normal.” This is achieved by a matter-of-fact tone in which the unbelievable moments are presented as either commonplace or not worthy of further exploration. For example, Maurecia keeps ice cream in her desk, but there is no indication that the ice cream melts or makes a mess.